Monday, July 25, 2011

Norway gunman wants to appear in court in uniform

OSLO, Norway - The man who confessed to the twin attacks that killed 93 people in Norway will be arraigned in court Monday and has requested an open hearing for his first appearance so that he can explain his massacre to the public. But prosecutors have asked that the court be closed to the public and media. It's clear from a manifesto Anders Behring Breivik published online to describe the planning and motivation of the attacks that he's looking for a platform for his belief that Europe must be saved from Muslim colonization; he has said that the killings themselves were "marketing" for the manifesto. His lawyer Geir Lippestad told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Breivik has requested to appear in a uniform during the hearing, but didn't know what kind. In the document, Breivik describes how he would turn the court appearance into theater. - IAN MacDOUGALL and LOUISE NORDSTROM